Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T12:07:41.331Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vegetational response to human colonisation of the coastal and volcanic environments of Ketilsstaðir, southern Iceland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Egill Erlendsson ,
Kevin J. Edwards  and
Paul C. Buckland
Egill Erlendsson*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 7, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland & Snorrastofa Research Centre, 320 Reykholt, Iceland
Kevin J. Edwards
Affiliation:
Departments of Geography & Environment and Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
Paul C. Buckland
Affiliation:
20 Den Bank Close, Crosspool, Sheffield S10 5PA, UK
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +354 5254499.

E-mail address:egille@hi.is (E. Erlendsson).

Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Tephra-dated, high-resolution pollen profiles from Ketilsstaðir, southern Iceland, indicate a largely unwooded pre-settlement environment, a probable consequence of the exposed coastal location. The degree of change associated with the Norse landnám is more limited than in many Icelandic pollen diagrams. There are three main periods of change in the post-settlement vegetational development of the area. Firstly, Norse settlement affected the hydrology of the bog, resulting in the near-disappearance of Sphagnum and agricultural activity led to a reduction of some species (e.g. Angelica spp. and Salix). Secondly, the establishment of probable permanent settlement in the mid-11th century AD initiated expansion of such apophytic taxa as Plantago spp. Lactuceae, Ranunculus spp. and Pteridophytes. Thirdly, the ≥ 10 cm thick Katla tephra, deposited in AD 1357, enhanced drainage of the bog surface, favouring dryland taxa (e.g. Poaceae, Galium and Lactuceae). The tephra deposit and the associated drainage probably caused or contributed to the local extinction of the wetland beetle Hydraena britteni. The study has enabled a series of natural and humanly-related issues to be addressed including tephra-vegetation relationships, the anthropogenic reduction in plant diversity, and comparisons between historical and environmental settlement records.

Keywords

PalynologyColeopteraNorseLandnámTephraMýrdalurIceland
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 72 , Issue 2 , September 2009 , pp. 174 - 187
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amorosi, T., Buckland, P.C., Edwards, K.J., Mainland, I., McGovern, T.H., Sadler, J.P., and Skidmore, P. They did not live by grass alone: the politics and palaeoecology of fodder on the North Atlantic islands. Environmental Archaeology 1, (1998). 41–54.Google Scholar
Andersen, S.T. Identification of wild grass and cereal pollen. Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse Årbok 1978, (1979). 69–92.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Caseldine, C., Weiner, N.J., and Hatton, J. Late Holocene (ca. 4 ka) marine and terrestrial environmental change in Reykjafjörður, north Iceland: climate and/or settlement?. Journal of Quaternary Science 16, (2001). 119–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austrheim, G., and Olson, E.G.A. How does continuity in grassland management after ploughing affect plant community patterns. Plant Ecology 145, (1999). 59–74.Google Scholar
Bending, J.M., (2007). The economy of the Norse settlement of the North Atlantic islands and its environmental impact: an archaeobotanical assessment. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Sheffield, .Google Scholar
Benediktsson, J. Íslendingabók. Landnámabók (Book of Icelanders, Book of Settlements). Íslenzk fornrit 1. (1968). Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, Reykjavík.Google Scholar
Bennett, K.D., (2009a). Catalog of pollen types. Queen's University Belfast. Belfast. http://www.chrono.qub.ac.uk/pollen/pc-intro.html (last accessed March 2009).Google Scholar
Bennett, K.D., (2009b). Psimpoll and pscomb programs for plotting and analysis. http://www.chrono.qub.ac.uk/psimpoll/psimpoll.html (last accessed March 2009).Google Scholar
Birks, H.J.B., and Line, J.M. The use of rarefaction analysis for estimating palynological richness from Quaternary pollen-analytical data. The Holocene 2, (1992). 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borthwick, D.M., (2007). The timing and impact of the Norse landnám on the vegetation of Hovsdalur, Faroe Islands. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.Google Scholar
Buckland, P.C., and Sadler, J. Farm or shieling: an entomological approach. In: Sveinbjarnardóttir, G., Shielings in Iceland — an archaeological and historical survey. Acta Archaeologica 61, (1991). 93–96.Google Scholar
Buckland, P.C., and Wagner, P.E. Is there an insect signal for the “Little Ice Age”?. Climatic Change 48, (2001). 137–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckland, P.C., Perry, D.W., and Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. Hydraena britteni Joy (Coleoptera, Hydraenidae) fundin á Íslandi í setlögum frá því seint á nútíma. Náttúrufræðingurinn 52, (1983). 37–44.Google Scholar
Buckland, P.C., Gerrard, A.J., Larsen, G., Perry, D.W., Savory, D.R., and Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. Late Holocene palaeoecology at Ketilsstaðir in Mýrdalur, South Iceland. Jökull 36, (1986). 41–55.Google Scholar
Buckland, P.C., Dugmore, A.J., and Sadler, J. Faunal change or taphonomic problem? A comparison of modern and fossil insect faunas from south east Iceland. Maizels, J.K., and Caseldine, C. Environmental Change in Iceland. (1991). Past and Present. Kluwer, Dordrecht. 127–145.Google Scholar
Buckland, P.C., Edwards, K.J., Blackford, J.J., Dugmore, A.J., Sadler, J.P., and Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. A question of Landnám: pollen, charcoal and insect studies on Papey, eastern Iceland. Butlin, R., and Roberts, N. Ecological Relations in Historical Times. (1995). Human Impact and Adaptation. Blackwell, Oxford. 245–264.Google Scholar
Calib, (2009). Radiocarbon calibration program: version Calib 5.0.2html. http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/ (last accessed March 2009).Google Scholar
Caseldine, C. Changes in the Holocene record from Iceland — a palaeoclimatic record or evidence for early Holocene hybridisation?. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 117, (2001). 139–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D.I., (1867–1972). Diplomatarium Islandicum. Hið íslenzka bókmenntafjelag, Copenhagen and Reykjavík, .Google Scholar
Dugmore, A.J., and Buckland, P.C. Tephrochronology and late Holocene soil erosion. Maizels, J.K., and Caseldine, C. Environmental Change in Iceland. (1991). Past and Present. Kluwer, Dordrecht. 147–161.Google Scholar
Dugmore, A.J., Larsen, G., and Newton, A.J. Seven tephra isochrones in Scotland. The Holocene 5, (1995). 257–266.Google Scholar
Dugmore, A.J., Newton, A.J., Larsen, G., and Cook, G.T. Tephrochronology, environmental change and the Norse settlement of Iceland. Environmental Archaeology 5, (2000). 21–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dugmore, A.J., Church, M.J., Buckland, P.C., Edwards, K.J., Lawson, I., McGovern, T.H., Panagiotakopulu, E., Simpson, I.A., Skidmore, P., and Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. The Norse landnám on the North Atlantic islands: an environmental impact assessment. Polar Record 41, (2005). 21–37.Google Scholar
Edwards, K.J. The cereal pollen record and early agriculture. Milles, A., Williams, D., and Gardner, N. The Beginnings of Agriculture. (1989). British Archaeological Reports, International Series, Oxford. 113–135.Google Scholar
Edwards, K.J., and Craigie, R. Palynological and vegetational changes associated with the deposition of Saksunarvatn ash in the Faroe Islands. Fróðskaparrit 46, (1998). 245–266.Google Scholar
Edwards, K.J., and McIntosh, C.J. Improving the detection rate of cereal-type pollen grains from Ulmus decline and earlier deposits from Scotland. Pollen et Spores 30, (1988). 179–188.Google Scholar
Edwards, K.J., Dugmore, A.J., and Blackford, J.J. Vegetational response to tephra deposition and land-use change in Iceland: a modern analogue and multiple working-hypothesis approach to tephropalynology. Polar Record 39, (2004). 1–8.Google Scholar
Edwards, K.J., Lawson, I.T., Erlendsson, E., and Dugmore, A.J. Landscapes of contrast in Viking age Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Landscapes 6, (2005). 63–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, K.J., Whittington, G., Robinson, M., and Richter, D. Palaeoenvironments, the archaeological record and cereal pollen detection at Clickimin, Shetland. Journal of Archaeological Science 32, (2005). 1741–1756.Google Scholar
Edwards, K.J., Borthwick, D., Cook, G., Dugmore, A.J., Mairs, K.-A., Church, M.J., Simpson, I.A., and Adderley, W.P. A hypothesis-based approach to landscape change in Suðuroy, Faroe Islands. Human Ecology 33, (2005). 621–650.Google Scholar
Edwards, K.J, Schofield, J.E., and Mauquoy, D. High resolution paleoenvironmental and chronological investigations of Norse landnám at Tasiusaq, Eastern Settlement, Greenland. Quaternary Research 69, (2008). 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einarsson, Þ. Pollen analytical studies on the vegetation and climate history of Iceland in late and post-glacial times. Löve, Á., and Löve, D. North Atlantic Biota and their History. (1963). Pergamon Press, Oxford. 355–365.Google Scholar
Einarsson, E.H. Mýrdalur. Árbók Ferðafélags Íslands 1975, (1975). 11–123.Google Scholar
Einarsson, M.Á. Veðurfar á Íslandi. (1976). Iðunn, Reykjavík.Google Scholar
Einarsson, E.H., Larsen, G., and Þórarinsson, S. The Sólheimar tephra layer and the Katla eruption of ∼ 1357. Acta Naturalia Islandica 28, (1980). 1–24.Google Scholar
Erlendsson, E., (2007). Environmental change around the time of the Norse settlement of Iceland. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen, .Google Scholar
Erlendsson, E., Edwards, K.J., Lawson, I.T., and Vésteinsson, O. Can there be a correspondence between Icelandic palynological and settlement evidence?. Arneborg, J., Grønnow, B. Dynamics of Northern Societies. Publications from the National Museum, Studies in Archaeology and History Vol. 10, (2006). Copenhagen, 347–354.Google Scholar
Erlendsson, E., Vickers, K.A., Gathorne-Hardy, F., Bending, J.M., Gunnarsdóttir, B., Gísladóttir, G. and Edwards, K.J., in press. Late-Holocene environmental history of the Reykholt area, Borgarfjörður, Western Iceland. In Þorgeirsson, B. (ed), Mellan Text och Materiell Kultur, . Snorrastofa, Reykholt.Google Scholar
Friðriksson, S. Korn frá Gröf í Öræfum. Árbók Hins Íslenzka Fornleifafélags 1959, (1959). 88–91.Google Scholar
Friðriksson, S. Jurtaleifar frá Bergþórshvoli á söguöld. Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 1960, (1960). 64–75.Google Scholar
Friðriksson, S. The effects of sea ice on flora, fauna and agriculture. Jökull 19, (1969). 146–157.Google Scholar
Gathorne-Hardy, F.J., Erlendsson, E., Langdon, P.G. and Edwards, K.J., in press. Lake sediment evidence for late Holocene climate change and landscape erosion in western Iceland. Journal of Paleolimnology, doi:10.1007/s10933-008-9285-4.Google Scholar
Geirsdóttir, Á., Miller, G.H., Thordarson, Th., and Ólafsdóttir, K.B. A 2000 year record of climate variations reconstructed from Haukadalsvatn, West Iceland. Journal of Paleolimnology 41, (2009). 95–115.Google Scholar
Grimm, E.C., (1991). TILIA and TILIA.GRAPH 1. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Grimm, E.C., (2004). TGView 2.0.2. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Grönvold, K., Óskarsson, N., Johnsen, J., Clausen, H.B., Hammer, C.U., Bond, G., and Bard, E. Ash layers from Iceland in the Greenland GRIP ice core correlated with oceanic and land sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 135, (1995). 149–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guðmundsson, G. Gathering and processing of lyme-grass (Elymus arenarius) in Iceland: an ethnohistorical account. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 5, (1996). 13–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guðmundsson, G., Snæsdóttir, M., Simpson, I.A., Hallsdóttir, M., Sigurgeirsson, M., and Árnason, K. Fornir akrar á Íslandi: meintar minjar um kornrækt á fyrri öldum. Árbók Hins íslenska fornleifafélags 2002–2003, (2004). 79–106.Google Scholar
Gunnarsdóttir, B. Gróðurfarslýsingar í Íslendingasögum bornar saman við núverandi gróðurfar. Skógræktarritið 2001, (2001). 63–77.Google Scholar
Gunnarsson, G. Landskuld í mjöli. Saga 18, (1980). 31–48.Google Scholar
Hafliðason, H., Larsen, G., and Ólafsson, G. The recent sedimentation history of Thingvallavatn, Iceland. Oikos 64, (1992). 80–95.Google Scholar
Hallsdóttir, M. Frjógreining tveggja jarðvegssniða úr Hrafnkelsdal. Áhrif ábúðar á gróðurfar dalsins. Árbók Hins íslenska fornleifafélags 1982, (1982). 253–265.Google Scholar
Hallsdóttir, M., (1987). Pollen analytical studies of human influence on vegetation in relation to the Landnám tephra layer in Southwest Iceland (PhD thesis). Lundqua Thesis 18, Lund University, Lund.Google Scholar
Hallsdóttir, M. Frjógreining. Frjókorn sem heimild um landnámið. Grímsdóttir, G.Á. Um landnám á Íslandi — fjórtán erindi. (1996). Vísindafélag Íslendinga, Reykjavík. 123–124.Google Scholar
Hansen, M. The Hydrophiloidea (Coleoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. (1987). Scandinavian Science Press, Leiden.Google Scholar
Heiri, O., Lotter, A.F., and Lemcke, G. Loss on ignition as a method for estimating organic and carbonate content in sediments: reproducibility and comparability of results. Journal of Paleolimnology 25, (2001). 101–110.Google Scholar
Hermannsson, J. Kornrækt á Íslandi. (1993). Rannsóknastofnun landbúnaðarins, Reykjavík.Google Scholar
Hicks, S. The use of annual arboreal pollen deposition values for delimiting tree-lines in the landscape and exploring models of pollen dispersal. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 117, (2001). 1–29.Google Scholar
Hicks, S., and Sunnari, A. Adding precision to the spatial factor of vegetation reconstructed from pollen assemblages. Plant Biosystems 139, (2005). 127–134.Google Scholar
Jóhansen, J. Cereal cultivation in Mykines, Faroe Islands AD 600. Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse Årbog 1978, (1979). 93–103.Google Scholar
Karlsdóttir, L., Thórsson, Æ.Th., Hallsdóttir, M., Sigurgeirsson, A., Eysteinsson, Th., and Anamthawat-Jónsson, K. Differentiating pollen of Betula species from Iceland. Grana 46, (2007). 78–84.Google Scholar
Kristinsson, H. The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Iceland. (1986). Örn og Örlygur, Reykjavík.Google Scholar
Lawson, I.T., Gathorne-Hardy, F.J., Church, M.J., Newton, A.J., Edwards, K.J., Dugmore, A.J., and Einarsson, Á. Environmental impacts of the Norse settlement: palaeoenvironmental data from Mývatnssveit, Northern Iceland. Boreas 36, (2007). 1–19.Google Scholar
Lawson, I.T., Edwards, K.J., Church, M.J., Newton, A.J., Cook, G.T., Gathorne-Hardy, F.J., and Dugmore, A.J. Human impact on an island ecosystem: pollen data from Sandoy, Faroe Islands. Journal of Biogeography 35, (2008). 1130–1152.Google Scholar
Moore, P.D., Webb, J.A., and Collinson, M.E. Pollen Analysis. 2nd edn. (1991). Blackwell Science, Oxford.Google Scholar
Newton, A.J., Dugmore, A.J., and Gittings, B.M. Tephrabase: tephrochronology and the development of a centralised European database. Journal of Quaternary Science 22, (2007). 737–743.Google Scholar
Ogilvie, A.E.J., and Jónsson, T. “Little Ice Age research”: a perspective from Iceland. Climatic Change 48, (2001). 9–52.Google Scholar
Óladóttir, B.A., Larsen, G., Þórðarson, Þ., and Sigmarsson, O. The Katla volcano, S-Iceland: Holocene tephra stratigraphy and eruption frequency. Jökull 55, (2005). 53–74.Google Scholar
Ólafsdóttir, R. Land Degradation and Climate in Iceland: A Spatial and Temporal Assessment (PhD thesis). Meddelanden från Lunds Universitets Geografiska Institutioner, avhandlingar 143. (2001). Lund University, Lund.Google Scholar
Ólafsson, H., Helgadóttir, Á., Sigurgeirsson, A., Hermannson, J., and Rögnvaldsson, Ó. Líkleg þróun veðurfars á Íslandi með tilliti til ræktunar. Fræðaþing landbúnaðarins 4, (2007). 29–36.Google Scholar
Sagar, G.R., and Harper, J.L. Plantago major L., P. media L. and P. lanceolata L. The Journal of Ecology 52, (1964). 189–221.Google Scholar
Schofield, J.E., Edwards, K.J., and Christensen, C. Environmental impacts of Norse landnám in the Qorlortoq valley, Eastern Settlement, Greenland. Journal of Archaeological Science 35, (2008). 1643–1657.Google Scholar
Sheehy Skeffington, M.J., and Jeffrey, D.W. Response of Armeria maritima (Mill.) Wild. and Plantago maritima L. from an Irish salt marsh to nitrogen and salinity. New Phytologist 110, (1988). 399–408.Google Scholar
Sicre, M.-A., Jacob, J., Ezat, U., Rousse, S., Kissel, C., Yiou, P., Eríksson, J., Knudsen, K.L., Jansen, E., and Turon, J.-L. Decadal variability of sea surface temperatures off North Iceland over the last 2000 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 268, (2008). 137–142.Google Scholar
Smith, K.P. Landnám: the settlement of Iceland in archaeological and historical perspective. World Archaeology 26, (1995). 319–347.Google Scholar
Steindórsson, S. Gróður á Íslandi. (1964). Almenna bókafélagið, Reykjavík.Google Scholar
Steindórsson, S. Vegetation classification in Iceland. Journal of Agricultural Research in Iceland 12, (1981). 11–57.Google Scholar
Stockmarr, J. Tablets with spores used in absolute pollen analysis. Pollen et Spores 13, (1971). 614–621.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P.J. Extended 14C database and revised CALIB radiocarbon calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, (1993). 215–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. Shielings in Iceland — an archaeological and historical survey. Acta Archaeologica 61, (1991). 73–96.Google Scholar
Sveinbjarnardóttir, G., Erlendsson, E., Vickers, K., McGovern, T.H., Milek, K., Edwards, K.J., Simpson, I.A., and Cook, G. The palaeoecology of a high status Icelandic farm. Environmental Archaeology 12, (2007). 187–206.Google Scholar
Tweddle, J.C., Edwards, K.J., and Fieller, N.R.J. Multivariate statistical and other approaches for the separation of cereal from wild Poaceae pollen using a large Holocene dataset. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 14, (2005). 15–30.Google Scholar
Vasey, D.E. Population, agriculture and famine: Iceland 1784–85. Human Ecology 9, (1991). 1–28.Google Scholar
Vésteinsson, O. Patterns of settlement in Iceland: a study in prehistory. Saga-Book 25, (1998). 1–29.Google Scholar
Vilmundarson, Þ., (1971). -stad. Island. Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for Nordisk Middelalder fra Vikingertid til Refomationstid 16. 378–384.Google Scholar
Vickers, K.A., (2006). The palaeoentomology of the North Atlantic islands. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Sheffield, .Google Scholar
Þórarinsson, S. Tefrokronologiska Studier på Island (Þjórsárdalur och dens Förödelse). Geografisker Annaler 26, (1944). 1–217.Google Scholar
Þórarinsson, S. Uppblástur á Íslandi í ljósi öskulagarannsókna. Ársrit Skógræktarfélags Íslands 1960–1961, (1961). 17–54.Google Scholar
Þórarinsson, S. Forn saumnál finnst á Felli í Mýrdal. Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 1971, (1971). 95–99.Google Scholar
Þórarinsson, S. Katla og annáll Kötlugosa. Árbók Ferðafélags Íslands 1975, (1975). 125–149.Google Scholar
Þórhallsdóttir, Þ.E. Áhrif búsetu á landið. Grímsdóttir, G.Á. Um landnám á Íslandi — fjórtán erindi. (1996). Vísindafélag Íslendinga, Reykjavík. 149–170.Google Scholar